Deadline decision “too late to be useful” while further disasters loom for 2006 claim year

The decision to relax the entitlement transfer period from six weeks to three weeks may be better late than never, but it still comes too late to be useful, says Jonathan Armitage, Farm Business Consultant of Strutt & Parker.

“It sounds like good news and it is what the industry asked for months ago. But practically it is of little use as farmers who were going to transfer entitlements had to work to the original deadline, the last posting date of which was Thursday (30 March). The extension may be of benefit to a few farmers who weren’t going to transfer but may do so now, and to a few farmers buying or selling farms or land. But they would probably have made other arrangements by now anyway.”

He acknowledges that permission to change the deadline had to be given by the EU, but announcing the deadline so late is yet another example of a lack of joined-up thinking by those in charge of the Single Payment System.

“If this had been announced six weeks ago, along with the changes at the RPA, things could have been very different and a lot easier for the industry.”

Mr Armitage particularly welcomes the proposal to create new claim teams at the RPA that can talk directly to farmers or agents; the relaxation of a zero tolerance policy when validating claims to one where a two hectare tolerance will suffice; and the authorisation of payments even if correspondence is outstanding. He acknowledges the “nightmare difficulties” of dealing with the issues, but is keen that individuals at the RPA are not vilified.

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“There are some very good, helpful people at the RPA who have been battling against a very poorly designed system indeed.” And he warns that unless further changes to the system takes place, over and above those already announced, the 2006 claim year is also in danger of being unacceptably chaotic.

“The 2006 claim forms are being issued now, and the RPA needs to get its procedures sorted out. There are so many people with incomplete information that next year could also go down as being another momentous year for Government inefficiency.”

He flags-up the issue of a farmer buying land, and the entitlements on it, as being particularly problematic. As it stands the seller has to deal with the whole transaction, and the buyer has no input, or say and may well be unaware of what entitlements he owns before the deadline for making a 2006 SPS claim. This, he says, is another disaster waiting to happen.

“It is essential that these issues are looked at by the RPA with a good deal of human understanding when it comes to processing this year’s claims, and I call on the senior officials at the RPA to communicate this to their staff.”